Pipes, electrical wires, and the like often comprise an inner core covered by jacketing or insulating material. In the case of pipes it may be desirable to jacket the pipe with such material so as to insulate the pipe, to protect the pipe from damage from external sources, or to provide a secondary containment system for the pipe. Electrical wires, including coaxial cable, require jacketing insulation so as to avoid the possibility of short circuits.
The use of a jacketing material for pipes is of great use in providing a secondary containment system for the materials transported via the pipe, as well as in providing for a means to determine whether a failure or leakage of the primary pipe has occurred. This is accomplished by providing a jacketing material with an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the pipe so as to allow fluids which leak from the primary pipe to be contained within the void between the pipe and the jacketing material. Allowing such fluids to drain to a sump, and periodically inspecting the sump for fluid, provides a convenient method of determining if a pipe has failed or is otherwise leaking.
Although referred to as pipe, the conduit may be flexible and be considered a hose.
It is often necessary to couple together sections or links of such pipes, wires, or other jacketed material. To do so generally requires cutting through both the jacketing material and the pipe or wire to provide a mating surface perpendicular to the axis of the pipe or wire, and then to strip or remove portions of the jacketing material near an end so as to expose a portion of the pipe or wire to allow for the coupling of sections of the pipe or wire. In the case of pipes, it is of great importance not to puncture or otherwise damage the pipe when removing the jacketing material so as to avoid pipe failures and leaks. Similarly, it is undesirable to damage wires when removing insulation material from the wires as a loss of conductivity may occur.
One simple tool which may be used to perfume the described operation is a knife. A simple knife, however, provides no means to ensure that the primary pipe or wire is not cut or damaged while removing a portion of the jacketing material. Moreover, the user of the knife may be injured due to the exposed blade of the knife.
Cutting tools in which a cutting blade may be set at various distances via the use of set screws and the like are also known in the art. Such tools, however, require the operator to accurately set the blade location so as to avoid damaging the primary pipe. If the user is unaware of the specific dimensions of the pipe and the jacketing material, such an operation may be difficult. Additionally, the jacketing material may be such that multiple cuts through the jacketing material must be performed. In such a situation, the operator must adjust the position of the cutting blade multiple times.
Additionally, for ease of removal of the jacketing material, it is often desirable to longitudinally cut through the jacketing material in addition to making a circumferential cut. A longitudinal cut allows the jacketing material to be more easily removed. A cutting tool which provides the capability to cut both latitudinally and longitudinally through the use of separate blades set via set screws is known in the art. Such a tool, however, suffers from disadvantages associated with the use of set screws and requires a plurality of blades.
Thus, a cutting tool which allows an operator to safely cut a pipe and easily remove jacketing material from the pipe while not risking damage to the pipe is desirable.